Creamy Rice Pudding

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

Rice pudding is one of my comfort foods. The weather has been a bit more chilly the past couple of days, so comfort food sounded really good. I am so glad I decided to try this out because I really think it will become a standard in my family.

I have pretty much avoided rice pudding, except on the rare occasion I decide to splurge a bit, since my diabetes diagnosis. We all know rice isn't exactly low carb, and once you add a bunch of other sugary things to it to make a good rice pudding, it's definitely off limits under most circumstances (unless you limit yourself to about a thimble-sized serving). This recipe eliminates most of the super sugary stuff, and it still tastes great to boot!

Ingredients:

2 small boxes vanilla, sugar-free pudding (do not make as directed on box)

3 1/2 cups fat free milk

4 oz frozen low fat whipped topping , thawed

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup seedless raisins

2 cups white rice, cooked

Directions:

In a medium to large bowl, use a whisk and briskly stir together dry pudding mixes and skim milk for 2 minutes.

Stir in whipped topping, almond extract, raisins, and rice. Keep stirring until well mixed.

Serve as is or keep chilled until ready to eat.

If desired, sprinkle top lightly with ground cinnamon before serving.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 14 (1/2 cup each) Amount Per Serving: Calories: 98.3, Total Fat: 0.2g, Sodium: 41.1mg, Total Carbs: 20.3g, Dietary Fiber: 0.7g, Protein: 3.2g

Oven Fried Chicken

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

I have tried a lot of oven fried chicken recipes over the years, and I've always been disappointed in some way. Most of the time, I am disappointed with the breading. It always seems to either get soggy, or it falls off–sometimes I'm lucky enough for both things to happen. A lot of the oven fried chicken recipes I've tried are also kind of bland.

This recipe stood up well to both the breading and flavor challenges. It actually came out crispy, and the seasonings seemed to be just right. Did it taste just like the Colonel's? No, of course not; nobody compares to the Colonel, but it is a tasty, lower-fat, comfort food that I'll be making again and again I'm sure.

I used chicken tenderloins, so they turned out more like chicken fingers. This pleased my 18-month-old and 2-year-old, and they enjoyed dipping theirs in ranch dressing. I made some homemade buffalo sauce for the adults. ;-)

Ingredients:

cooking spray
1 1/2 cups corn flakes cereal , made into crumbs
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 eggs
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
2 Tablespoons white all purpose flour
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (4, 4-oz, breasts)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a shallow baking pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine cornflake crumbs, thyme, garlic salt, and onion powder.

In a separate bowl lightly beat egg and egg whites. Add hot pepper sauce and mix well.

Place flour in a separate container.

Dip each side of chicken breast in the flour, then egg mixture, then in cornflake mixture.

Place chicken breasts in baking pan. Spray chicken lightly with cooking spray and bake 30-35 minutes, until juices run clear.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 4 Amount Per Serving: Calories: 224.6, Total Fat: 3g, Sodium: 331.7mg, Total Carbs: 13.8g, Dietary Fiber: 0.5g, Protein: 34.2g

Cheesy Chips

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

One of the things I've missed most since becoming diabetic is crunchy things. If you think about it, there aren't too many crunchy things that aren't fairly loaded with carbs. On top of that, crunchy things are often loaded with other bad things like fat and sodium.

The sodium content in these tasty chips is not super great, but it's not horrible either. It is still less sodium than a serving of potato chips. They also have fewer carbs and less fat than potato chips. So, I'd say these are a good choice for an occasional snack when you just HAVE to have that crunch!

Ingredients:

10 wonton wrappers
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Take each wonton wrapper and cut in half diagonally to form 2 triangles. Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. *I used a pizza cutter to cut these, and it was super easy.

In a small bowl combine the cheese with oil and garlic powder.

Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the wonton triangles.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the wontons are golden brown and crisp. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 4; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 75.2, Total Fat: 3.5g, Sodium: 156.4mg, Total Carbs: 7.8g, Dietary Fiber: 0.3g, Protein: 3g

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

Yesterday was my mom's birthday, and we had her over for dinner. She loves oatmeal raisin cookies, so I thought I'd find a low-carb recipe and try them out. I don't get into cookies that much, and oatmeal raisin is not my favorite, but these were good. We all enjoyed them. Jeff, my husband, said he actually thought they were a little too sweet for his taste, which says a lot for a low-carb/diabetic-friendly cookie recipe I'd say! These also have much fewer ingredients than a lot of cookie recipes I've seen, so it was easy to make these without a trip to the store first.

Ingredients:

3 medium bananas mashed (overripe bananas have a higher carb content, so be sure to choose fresh bananas)
2 cups quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup seedless raisins
1/3 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup fat free milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and let stand for 5 minutes so that the oats will absorb excess moisture.

Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Let cool for 1 minute on baking sheets and then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 36; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 51.5, Total Fat: 2.1g, Sodium: 20.9mg, Total Carbs: 7.7g, Dietary Fiber: 0.9g, Protein: 0.9g

Balsamic Pork Chops

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$
Taste: ★★★★

If you're looking for an incredibly easy pork chop recipe, this is the one for you. It didn't live up to my flavor expectations, but marinated meats rarely do for some reason. I even marinated the chops for the full 24 hours.

My family enjoyed it; my daughter, who very rarely eats much of her dinner at all (and especially not meat), actually said she liked it.

Ingredients:

8 boneless pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing

Directions:

Place chops in large, re-sealable bag; add vinaigrette dressing. Seal bag and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.

Prepare medium-hot grill. Remove chops from marinade and pat dry. Discard remaining marinade.

Grill chops directly over heat for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning once.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 8; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210, Total Fat: 11.7g, Sodium: 351.2mg, Total Carbs: 3.9g, Dietary Fiber: 0g, Protein: 20.4g

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$$
Taste: ★★★★

I thought these turned out quite yummy! My husband, kids, and parents-in-law seemed to enjoy them, too. I used fat-free cream cheese because it's what I had on hand, and I did 1/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup Splenda. They still turned out great. The nutrition information provided is for the recipe as written below. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

cooking spray
8 oz low fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 cup light sour cream
1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Spray an 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and line with a 12 inch piece of parchment paper. Spray paper with nonstick cooking spray; place a second sheet of 12 inch parchment in the opposite direction so they lay crisscrossed. Spray second sheet with cooking spray; set aside.

Place cream cheese and sour cream in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add in the cocoa powder, cornstarch, sugar, and eggs, blending until smooth, scraping the sides of container at least once.

Pour into baking dish and evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips. Bake on middle rack until just set, about 35-40 minutes.

Place on cooling rack for 20-30 minutes, then in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Lift brownies out of pan using the parchment paper as handles, cut into 9 even squares.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 9; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 140, Total Fat: 4.6g, Sodium: 44.4mg, Total Carbs: 20.8g, Dietary Fiber: 0.6g, Protein: 4.2g

Baked Brie Casserole

Skill Level: Easy
Sticker Shock: $$$
Taste: ★★★★

This is a very tasty casserole. The flavors work together very well. I did notice it lost some of its tastiness if I didn't have a bit of each layer on my fork. I like Brie, but the Brie flavor tended to take over if one or two of the other layers weren't included in a particular bite. This sounds ridiculous as I'm typing it, but I don't know how else to describe it!

My daughter wouldn't touch it (she's two-and-a-half and very rarely has interest in dinner), but my son (18-months-old) gobbled it up, as he does pretty much anything I put in front of him. My husband enjoyed it but noticed the same thing I did about the flavor.

I think this will be a dish that we have maybe two or three times a year. I could see it being something I crave every so often. I don't think it will become a regular part of our meal rotation, though.

Oh, and just for reference, I chilled mine for about six hours before putting it in the oven.

Ingredients:

2 small zucchini , cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices (about 2 cups)
cooking spray
6 oz bread, sourdough, torn into bite size pieces (equal to 6 cups)
brie, 4.5oz package
1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes, halved (or grape tomatoes )
1 cup egg substitute
2/3 cup evaporated, nonfat/skim milk
1/3 cup fresh chopped green onion
3 Tablespoons fresh dill weed (or 1 tablespoon dried dill weed)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:

In a covered medium saucepan, cook zucchini in a small amount of boiling, lightly salted water for 2 to 3 minutes or until just tender. Drain zucchini. Set aside.

Meanwhile, coat a 2 quart rectangular baking dish with cooking spray, and arrange 4 cups of the bread pieces in the prepared baking dish.

If desired, remove and discard rind from cheese, cut cheese into 1/2 inch cubes.

Arrange cheese evenly over bread in baking dish, arrange zucchini and tomatoes on top. Sprinkle with remaining 2 cups bread pieces.

Combine egg product, evaporated milk, green onion, dill, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Pour evenly over mixture in baking dish.

Lightly press down layers with back of spoon. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4 to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees, and remove plastic wrap from casserole, cover with foil.

Bake for 30 minutes, uncover and bake for additional 25 to 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition information: Servings Per Recipe: 6; Amount Per Serving: Calories: 193.1, Total Fat: 6.5g, Sodium: 592.4mg, Total Carbs: 20.1g, Dietary Fiber: 1.2g, Protein: 12.7g